MovieChat Forums > The Revenant (2016) Discussion > Was the initial ambush a result of the F...

Was the initial ambush a result of the French trappers kidnapping...

posted 9 years ago by sfrmiw
10 replies | jump to latest

...that one Indian woman?

Actually, was all of the Indian violence in the film a direct result of the actions of the French trappers or was some of it run of the mill opportunistic Indian looting/pillaging/massacring ?

EDIT: a secondary question would be this: is there any historical basis for French trappers doing something so stupid? Did this ever happen? It seems like a horrifically bad idea to kidnap an Indian girl/woman because of the hellfire that will rain down upon you afterwards.

[–] oki9Sedo 9 years ago

My understanding was that they attacked the fur trappers in search of their daughter. We see the Chief at the end of the fight despondent that he hasn't found her.

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[–] Strazdamonas 8 years ago

Indeed, the chief was looking for his kidnapped daughter and could not differentiate between the english and french trappers since all white men look the same.

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The spirit of abysmal despair

[–] sfrmiw 8 years ago

OK well I guess a secondary question would be this: is there any historical basis for French trappers doing something so stupid? Did this ever happen? It seems like a horrifically bad idea to kidnap an Indian girl/woman because of the hellfire that will rain down upon you afterwards.

[–] aliza_tvito 8 years ago

No historical basis at all. Just the ill-advised idea of the Director that Francophobia still sells good in the US.

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[–] Farseer_2122 8 years ago

It's probable but I highly doubt that there's any records kept of it

[–] Strazdamonas 8 years ago

Im not aware of any recorded history of that specific incident but european colonists often did actions that in restrospect look absolutely ludicrous.

There was a known practice of early settlers of kidnapping people for ransom that they could trade back to the native americans for variuos goods as well as southern US had a habit of enslaving native americans in the same fashion they did with the slaves purchased in Africa. South Carolina was quite known for it at the time. However i could not find anything about it being done by french in particular.

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The spirit of abysmal despair

[–] gljbradley 8 years ago

Indeed.

[–] gottaluvafriend 8 years ago

The Aricara (Ree) are shown as a vicious tribe. They ambushed the trappers only for the pelts. They probably knew nothing of the Pawnee woman's kidnapping.

The Revenant movie is based on a true story and the novel of the same name by Michael Punke. This article is helpful...

http://time.com/4171001/revenant-1939-true-story/

[–] YouthIsWasted 8 years ago

The Arikara chief was indeed looking for his kidnapped daughter, Powaqa, in the ambush scene. They took the pelts to trade to the French for horses in order to keep looking for her. Powaqa was Arikara, not Pawnee. Glass' son and dead wife were Pawnee as was the Indian who gave Glass the buffalo meat and tended his wounds.

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

I have to wonder if the story takes place during the War of 1812.